The distribution of pension wealth in Finland
This paper studies the effect of pensions on the distribution of wealth in Finland. We use a combination of survey and register data, including register information on earned pension rights.
We calculate the discounted value of the stream of future pension benefits. Adding pensions to net wealth makes the distribution of wealth somewhat more even. Inequality is reduced within all subgroups studied. The subgroups whose relative situation improves, compared to other subgroups, are the highly educated, singles, and part-time pensioners. We use two samples, with the individual and the household as the units of analysis. The differences between the results are few and mostly mechanical.